Glennis McClure (left) accepts the Search for Excellence in Farm and Ranch Business Management Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents at their 2024 conference in Dallas.
Nebraska Extension educator Glennis McClure accepted a national award for the Agricultural Budget Calculator program and enterprise budgeting education from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents during its 2024 annual conference, held July 14-18, in Dallas.
McClure received the NACAA Search for Excellence in Farm and Ranch Business Management Award for the Agricultural Budget Calculator (ABC) program, a free online enterprise budgeting program for farm and ranch businesses, and its educational value. According to the association, the award recognizes the development and execution of “an outstanding educational program in farm and ranch management.”
“This recognition for the Ag Budget Calculator is a big honor, and we hope that it helps to get the program in front of more people as we really believe it brings a lot of value to the ag community, as well as educators,” she said.
McClure routinely hosts in-person and virtual workshops for new and experienced ABC users and presents to groups across Nebraska to teach them how the program can be used to calculate cost of production to be used in projected whole-farm financials and profitability.
“ABC serves as an excellent teaching resource, utilized in educational presentations and workshops to help participants learn how to create enterprise budgets and then to use that information in management decision-making,” McClure said.
The Agricultural Budget Calculator program offers a suite of risk management decision tools and other resources users can use in preparing their enterprise budgets and estimating cost of production on a per-unit, per-acre or total basis.
McClure said that increasing the understanding and use of enterprise budgeting by Nebraska producers helped drive the decision to develop the ABC program and make it available for free.
“Through education and use of the program, farmers and ranchers are improving their understanding of how management and production integrate with decision-making to meet business objectives, reduce risk, enhance the sustainability of resources, and mitigate external factors,” she said.
McClure mentioned agricultural producers, bankers, students, farm managers and ag industry professionals among user bases who are benefitting from the program, which has grown to include over 1,600 users since being released in 2021. Her evaluation data indicates that nearly 80% of those participating in her educational workshops on the program give it a high rating, indicating they gained knowledge on enterprise budgeting and what ABC can be used for.
The program is produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Agricultural Profitability in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Development team members include McClure; Jeremy Eide, programmer; Jay Parsons, professor; Shannon Sand, extension educator; Larry Van Tassell, professor emeritus; and Roger Wilson, retired analyst.
Funding acknowledgments include The Nebraska Soybean Board, the Nebraska Corn Board, and USDA /NIFA under award numbers 2018-70027-28586 and 2021-70027-34694, along with the Center for Agricultural Profitability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
More information about the Agricultural Budget Calculator program is available on the Center for Agricultural Profitability’s website at https://cap.unl.edu/abc.